Reploids
by Dr Facer
Summary: Alone and isolated from the rest of humanity, these are the last thoughts of a man during a Maverick attack.


Disclaimer: All characters in this fanfic are property of Capcom.

Note: This story is set during the events of Mega Man X5.

**REPLOIDS.**

By

**Dr Facer**

Reploids. They are everywhere these days; right now, according to the last census, there are over two hundred reploids for every human being. You can't go out to the streets anymore without seeing them. I sometimes wonder how come that we adopted them so quickly; perhaps it was because they did make our lives much easier, at first. Now, because of the megalomaniac Sigma, leader of the mavericks; we humans are on the brink of extinction; and do we care? No, we don't care; all we do is to let them take care of the problem themselves. Sigma is a reploid, right? Let the other reploids take care of him. That was what the High Command of the Earth said when Sigma attacked us for the first time.

By the end of the first maverick revolt; the reploids found a new hero in the reploid called X. The only good thing is that X fights to keep the world at peace; I don't dare to think what would have happened if he was a racist like Sigma. Not too long after, they found a new hero in the hunter Zero; he, like X, became an inspiration for reploids all over the world. Still, reploids are difficult to trust; they are stronger, faster, and in some cases, more intelligent. It's no wonder we approach them with extreme care.

The fact that reploids are dangerous because they could go maverick is not what worries me. Under normal conditions, they seem to be able to get along with each other better than us; and they see us as their equals; when they are not mavericks of course. What really worries me is the Sigma virus, every effort to destroy that thing has failed so far and I am sure that it will bring hell to this planet. I doubt that the maverick hunters can stop the Eurasia space station from crashing on earth. As I wait for the inevitable, I read my notebook again; there; I keep all the relevant information about the reploids.

The first note of interest I have is the one that describes the discovery of Dr. Light's lab; I have to say that it was when Dr. Cain excavated X from that cursed laboratory that all started; shortly after X was activated, Cain started building reploids like if his life depended on it; in a matter of just two years, the number of reploids was equal to that of the human population of the earth.

The next note is that of the capture of the first maverick; a reploid called Stealth Panther went crazy and started slashing both humans, robots and other reploids. Panther's rampage continued for almost a month until he was finally stopped. I thought that reploid assembling would stop after that; instead, Cain created a special force to hunt down mavericks; the leader of such force was none other than Sigma himself; Cain's best creation.

The note that followed was one of the most important, after an emotive speech given by Cain; reploids were recognized as living beings and were accepted to have civilian status. Sigma and his team of hunters were especially overjoyed. X on the other hand, was not exciting news anymore and the press mostly ignored him or his reaction. What was exciting though, was the first reploid wedding, which was held that year; the most memorable thing from that wedding was the fact that the couple managed to have 'kids'; all they had to do was to build them.

My next note is from a month or so after the reploids were granted citizenship; Sigma himself faced an unknown red maverick that single handedly murdered all the humans and reploids inside the mine he came out from; Sigma was reported to be very damaged after he arrested the red Maverick, who identified himself as Zero Omega. This Zero was analyzed by Cain and after some reprogramming; Zero became a very efficient hunter, almost rivaling Sigma or Vile.

I put down my notes for a brief moment just to look at the emergency broadcast system; it seems Zero is going to crash a space shutter in the Colony to destroy it or at least change its course. It would be great if he succeeds, unfortunately, I'm sure he won't. After I do a few equations, I am convinced that the mass of the space colony is too big for a simple shutter to do the job. Considering the current status of things; with nearly 85 of the reploid population infected by the Sigma virus, and nearly 95 of the regular robots damaged or infected, I really doubt that this world is going to survive.

I pick up my notes again; where was I? Oh yes, the next note details the first Maverick war. Sigma decided that Humans were not worthy of existence and he set on a quest to wipe us all out. That was when X became the hero he is now.

The next two notes detailed the second and third attacks led by Sigma; the worst part of all that was the destruction of Doppler town and the death of Doppler himself; he used to be one of the best reploids ever created. Other thing of interest there was that Sigma revealed himself as a virus; how he turned into a virus is still unknown, though my best estimations indicate that somehow, Sigma's program mutated into it. I lift my sight from my notes, as I expected, the mavericks are attacking my refuge; the surveillance cameras that still work allow me to see that, luckily, my attackers don't have heavy weaponry at their disposal yet; if that's all they have, I think that I won't have to worry too much.

I sigh as I continue reading. The fourth time Sigma tried to destroy humanity was almost as terrible as this time; Sigma used the repliforce against us. He almost succeeded in destroying everything, but somehow X and Zero defeated him, at the cost of almost all of repliforce. From that time, I remember the destruction of two of my company's greatest creations, Colonel and Iris. They were our finest reploids back then; of course, now we have Signas and Alia to be proud of; but I still think of Colonel and Iris at times. I regret that the two of them were so idealistic. Their ideas forced them to fight and brought them death; then again, when a reploid is out of the assemble line, it's pretty much impossible to know what they think or feel.

I realize that is a funny thing that someone like me, who considers reploids as a possible source of danger makes a living building them and repairing them; anyway, it has been the family business for more than a hundred years to build robots or anything that is like them. Having nothing better to do, I go back to my notes. The next one I read is one from shortly after the destruction of Doppler town something like five years ago; in it is the story of the only human-reploid marriage; I remember that I almost entered in shock when I first heard that one. The man who married that feminine reploid was the son of one of the world leaders, so that marriage got triple the media attention it should have. The most amazing thing of it all was that somehow; a group of scientists found a way to implant an artificial womb on the reploid; which allowed her, after the selection of an ovule in a fertility clinic, to have a baby for her husband. Yes, that baby has grown quite healthy and quite human; I even have a small picture of the reploid mother with the kid in her arms; it's a very touching picture really. I wonder if the kid's reploid mother went Maverick today? I certainly hope not.

The last note is from a month ago; it is a report of Cain's last finding, the archeologist found another lab. This time, the lab was much more than that; it was actually a Skull Castle! Cain was very happy with his discovery, since it meant that the world was finally going to learn more about the legendary and evil Dr. Wily. The finding was decided to be a secret from the public in order to avoid massive terror; only the most important and influential members of the High Command were told of this. I remember I opposed when I was asked if Cain should open the gates of the Skull Castle or not. As far as I know, Wily was worse than Sigma; and I strongly believe that anything related with the mad scientist should be either burned or destroyed. Unfortunately, the High Command gave Cain permission to explore the ruins of Wily's fortress. The most interesting part is that now, only after a month the Skull Castle was found and people started to explore it; Sigma returned in full force. Perhaps the rising of that Skull Castle was a bad omen; I wouldn't be surprised if Sigma decided to use Wily's fortress as his new hideout; it would be ironic and somehow I feel it would be adequate, too.

My thoughts drift towards Light and Wily. I wonder if they imagined that the maverick wars would be partly their fault? Light imagined a world safe for everyone and he used his knowledge to chase his goals. Wily wanted to rule the world, it was his obsession; he also used his knowledge to chase his goals. In their determination, both scientists were not so different from each other. I realize that the pounding in the outside walls of my factory has stopped; maybe the mavericks that were attacking me desisted? Of course not, a new sound takes the place of the pounding, if I'm not mistaken, the mavericks are now using a plasma blaster to break trough the reinforced walls; they will succeed, I'm sure of it; but it will take them some more time.

I order the security staff and the guardian reploids that are inside the facility to evacuate; the escape routes I have built underground a few years back will lead them to a safer place. As for me, I must stay. I've lived long enough already and there's no point in trying to escape, that would only bring danger to those near me. Instead, I prepare a safe line in my communicator, there's someone I have to talk to before anything else happens. The small screen in my desk struggles for a moment until it finally manages to make contact.

"Dad?"

"Hello my son." I answer, "Is your refuge still secure?"

I see how my son nods, "Yes dad, we're fine here; how about you?"

"Not so bad. I think I'm going to survive this one."

"Dad?"

"What?"

"You suck at lying."

He got me there, I've never been able to lie convincingly, "Don't worry, there's no way the mavericks can kill me so easily."

"But…"

"We have no time for this son, how's my grandson?"

My son crouches and lifts a little boy, the kid smiles at the screen and waves his hand at me. "He's just fine as you can see."

"And your wife? How is she doing?"

He makes room for the camera so I can see behind him, there she is, laying silently on the bed of the room, "She's not sleeping dad." He says.

"Did she…"

"No, she was so afraid of the virus that she downloaded her mind into this." My son explains and lifts a memory cube, "She will be safe from the Sigma virus here father. If her body is not active, it can't be infected so easily. Once this is all over, I will download her back into her body."

"I see."

"Will you be alright there father?"

"I think I will." I say as I look at the security monitor, the mavericks have almost melted the wall, soon; they will be here. "Son, the support systems are getting low on energy, so I will make this quick; listen well."

"Go ahead father."

"If I don't make it, I want you to take full control of the company; also…"

"Dad!"

"Don't interrupt me son!" I shout, "I don't think you'll have any problem, I'm sure of it. You have the spirit to rebuild our facilities and restore Cossack Robotics' good name!"

"Is that all?"

"No, there's something else I have to say, I want to say that you are the best son a man could have; you and my grandson are the best gifts this world has ever given me."

"Father, don't talk like that…"

"There's more." Of all the things, I never imagined I would tell him this; but this is the only chance I have, "I never said this to you my son. But you made a good choice; your wife is a kind soul and I want you to tell her that I'm sorry for all the times I ignored her. Tell her that she is a good mother too." That felt good, I finally can get that weight off my shoulders, "Finally; tell her that she's the only reploid I ever considered both friend and family." I see my son is fighting back the tears. He's such a crybaby; even if he's almost thirty years old. "Good bye my dear son, always remember that your father loves you and your family."

"Father wait, I…"

I turn the communicator off, the mavericks are inside and I don't want them to have any chance to find my son and his family. Now all I have to do is wait. I'm calm when the wall collapses and a tall reploid enters my refuge; I do the obvious; I greet him, "Welcome Sigma, I was waiting for you."

"Mr. Cossack, I'm amazed by your attitude, every other member of the High Command cried when I visited them."

"Which is probably the reason why you saved me for last, right Sigma?"

"Indeed." He says as he walks to me, his hands are glowing, the air gets charged with electricity and I know what's going to happen; but I don't care; even if I'm not here, the legacy of my family will live on. I'm not afraid….

**END**

Author's note: As usual, I thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it. This is the first time I write a story for the MMX universe; so maybe I have a few mistakes when it comes to the time lines. For the story, just for a little change, I decided to ignore X and Zero as the major characters and focus into the thoughts of a human and in the way he sees things. Hopefully it was worth the try.


End file.
